Brainstorming Here-Need Help With Ideas...

[Darkblood]

Okay...so here's the deal...I've been trying to come up with ideas for 2009 and I have a concept/idea in my head, but wonder if anyone has any ideas (cheaper the better) that would help me flesh this out...

I was thinking of having a hallway (maybe 12' or 16' long) with big circular sawblades sticking out of it on each side (maybe 2 or 3 each side). I had a couple ideas to implement the scare:

1. Have them constantly spinning (of course they're just wood or something light with black paint to make them look sharp-Safety First!) and when people round the corner the lights go out (and they retract still 'hearing them' and it's a dark hallway).

2. The people get to the hallway as they are powering down and retracting...well they start up the dimly lit (or the lights can go out) hallway and the sound of them powering up starts as they're halfway up.

Any ideas what would be best and how to make this happen? Of course fully automated/computer controlled would be easiest...but budget wise I'm not sure?
Any ideas will be appreciated and maybe I can work from there?

Thanks!

Kirk

[Spookyfinder]

Like this...

http://www.gepproductions.com/props/saws.html


-Tyler

[Boni]

So much for cheap, lol.

[Allen H]

I would re post this in the efx tech forum on their site. But it sounds pretty simple. synching audio with pneumatic events is a little tricky but I also know that they have a box for that. The good news is that almost everything of theirs is on sale now.
http://www.efx-tek.com/
go to the forums and poke around, a ton can be learned there. You can do this in stages also. this season its an actor behind the wall pulling levers and pulling the saws through and hitting light switches, and hitting a digital recording at the right moments (check out efx tech's ap-8). and then you can add pnumatics as you are able to.
On a completely different note, you are not looking for ideas anymore. You have an idea that you need help executing. I find it is much easier to get idea help than it is execution help.
good luck and pm me if you ned anything else in regards to executing this.
Allen Hopps

[Darkblood]

Boni-I hear ya!

Thanks all for the help thus far. I actually saw the idea in The Linking Ring magazine a couple Halloween issues ago (I'm a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and that's their publication). A magician in there from Canada I believe ran a haunt. But it didn't give any tech, just a description.
I didn't have a haunt then...so I put it out of mind...until the other day.
Then I got my Hauntworld #19 today (for joining the HHA a week ago) and BOOM...Tyler you nailed it...GEP Productions. But at almost 7,000.00 that's a bit much for me this year.
Also I wanted to do BIGGER sawblades...theirs look like maybe 2 feet in diameter...I'm thinking of like 5 footers...
Anyways...thanks for the help so far...
Allen-I'll check out their forums!

Kirk

[Boni]

Alllen H, why PM. I would like to know how this can work as well.

[maliciousstudios]

Why buy it when you can build it for allot less....

[Allen H]

Very often I find its cheaper to buy something after doing all the research and pricing out parts. In the past I have started to build something and then after figuring in the screws and hinges it ended costing as much or more to build it.
in this case I would bet that you could come in well under $7,000. I would hate to think that anything posted here would make good vendors lose money. If this were a smaller ticket item I would not help recreate it, in this case I think most of us here are out of the price range on this one, and those who can easily afford it are to busy to build it themselves.
Break down your effect into its basic components, on a sheet of paper. you will need a sensor to activate everything.
you will need an event controller to activate the lights and the pneumatics Fright props and the afore mentioned efx-tech both have good options in that department.
Follow this pattern of listing everything out then consult with efx-tech or fright props ( I mention those companies because they have done right by me in the past Im sure other companies can help but none I can recommend off hand)
Don't forget motors if you want the blades to spin and pistons to move them in and out of the slots. I might recommend a few strobes or possibly sparks of some kind to aid the effect.
Once you have priced out the electrical outsourced components, then start on the basics 2x4's and plywood and such. Get a estimate before you start building and stick to your budget.
good planning will save a ton of money as well as good advice from pros like the guys at the companies I mentioned.
Ok Im off to bed, plan it out then consult a pro to fill in gaps you missed, then decide if you can afford that plan, scale back untill you have a budget and effect you are happy with.
Allen Hopps

[Monster-Tronics]

To Allen and Malicious Studios

I would hate to think that anything posted here would make good vendors lose money

What do you think is going to happen to GEP? When you show someone a step by step instruction how to rippoff a vendor what do you think is going to happen? Do you think they are going to make money off this?

Why should price have anything to do with whether it’s alright to screw over another vendor?

Are you the same person that owned Creature Crates? And Malicious Studios you elude to being a vendor. If so, do you guys want someone else to post a step by step tutorial on how to duplicate your products?

I hate to sound like a jerk but I think Larry believes this too. If you publish how to make vendor products and put them out of business you are hurting the whole industry. If they are the ones creating new and never been done before stuff, putting the creative vendors out of business you’ll be left with a bunch of rippoff artists making trashcan pop-ups.

If you are cleaver enough to figure something out yourself and want to spend more time and money building something vs buying one, go for it! But if you need a step by step instruction to build something odds are good you should not be doing it anyway. Example: I have people asking me all the time about helping them make things that require 110vac. I don’t show them because I don’t want to be the reason they kill themselves because they don’t have any experience working with high voltage.

Additionally, I would bet that GEP went to extremes to test their product to make sure it is safe. If you cobble something together and use the wrong material say on the saw blade, even cardboard when spinning could take a chunk out of someone. Maybe they are using a special clutch to stop the wheel if someone touches it, hopefully you get the point.

Jeff Londos
Monster-Tronics
Innovators in Haunt Technologies
www.Monster-Tronics.com
See us in St. Louis at TransWorld’s National Haunt & Attractions
Show, booth 714, March 27th -29th 2009
Proud Member of the Halloween and Haunt Vendor Association
www.halloweenhauntvendors.com
www.youtube.com/MonsterTronics

[Boni]

Actually, I think the more these ideas get out there about how to build your own props, many of the vendors will see an increase in business. I would have never considered buying any type of controller until I saw a set up for one on another DIY haunted house site. At the time I didn't even know there were such vendors. Now I'm in the market for some of they items many of you sell.

There are a great number of us out here that just can't affort to plop down 7 grand on one hallway, 7 grand is my entire budget, not my prop budget, by entire budget.

For me to one day become an active customer of these large prop vendors, I will have to do a lot of DIY projects to build up to the point where my haunt draws enough customers that I can start purchasing thousand dollar propls. So by getting the knowledge out there to help me build my own stuff, you are pushing me up the grid to where my budget allows me to actually buy a prop instead of make one.

I see nothing wrong with talking about how to build props if the vendor does not have a patent or some sort of creative protection on the item. I doubt this vendor was the first one to create a buzzsaw hallway, nor are they the only ones, many of you have probably built one yourself, to say its tabo to discuss is really only hurting the industry, especially those not at the top.

I think this is where many of us get turned off by Transworld and HHA and sometimes this forum, you really have to dig sometimes to get help on what may seem basic and routine to the experts, but needed information to us just starting out.

I think this site would benefit from a DIY forum or a forum for those only in the industry a short time and on a small budget.

Until then, I will keep flipping back to Monster Page, Haunted Illinois, or some of the other great sites that show the how to's on projects.

[Monster-Tronics]

Two points, if you’re a vendor you should not be cutting another vendors throat.

The other is, if you don’t have the funds to buy from haunt vendors and you post how to make their products that they spent a lot of time and R&D money to create something new and safe for the industry, when you are big enough to buy a real prop from a haunt vendor they might not be around because you put them out of business.

Do you want to go to a haunt that has the same exact stuff that every other haunt has and never changes. Are you going to post your own creative ideas for all to make? Have you ever come up with your own ideas or is your haunt filled with dot rooms and trashcan pop ups. Successful haunts are usually the ones that are creative and go beyond copying the same old stuff.

Jeff Londos
Monster-Tronics
Innovators in Haunt Technologies
www.Monster-Tronics.com
See us in St. Louis at TransWorld’s National Haunt & Attractions
Show, booth 714, March 27th -29th 2009
Proud Member of the Halloween and Haunt Vendor Association
www.halloweenhauntvendors.com
www.youtube.com/MonsterTronics

[maliciousstudios]

why do you feel obligated to include me in your attack ??? I simply said why buy it when you can build.... I never said how it is built... Im not ripping anyone off, if the guy wants to buy it - he'll buy it, if the guy wants to build it - he'll build it. I know its a big sin to build something yourself these days ( insert sarcasm ) noone in this industry has ever built anything themselves have they? Im sure everything they have had in their haunt has been purchased from a vendor... See, this to me is the problem with this industry, everyone wants help with something - as soon as somone pauses to offer advice there is always someone who decides to step off their high horse to attack those that are willing to help. ( Not that I offered any advice really )

What about all the diagrams on how to build a drop panel in all them haunt mags? Or how about the drawing of Peppers ghost ? I know there are vendors selling these as well.

[maliciousstudios]

Its a shame that we cant share ideas without the attacks ( not that I even shared one in the first place ) Im confused....

[Spookyfinder]

Larry did create a Halloween Tech forum... discuss this there!

I will agree with the "ethics" of posting/talking about how to build another vendors product... but I will say this: If a vendor decides to provide a product that would be so easily duplicated, why provide it? Look at the all the instructions for drop portriats, spinning tunnels, peppers ghost, very simple animations, webber guns, etc. etc. etc... yet some vendors choose to offer said items!

I think this is the stall in our industry... no advancement, no innovation. I mean, you don't see ANYONE trying to build there own Unit 70 demon do you?

Also, think about this... discussing how to build a vendors product on a website whose advertising dollars is paying for! Hmmm... and you all wonder IF Larry will delete this thread! I'd think it would be in HW's best interest to delete this thread... or lose an advertiser! That's the problem with sites like this and Haunted Attraction... to cross over between vendors and haunters... yeah yeah we must all work together, but like mentioned, how many haunters can actually afford to buy everything?

They must make it themselves, and that, IS the problem! -Tyler

[maliciousstudios]

Okay since youve asked....
Heres an idea that I have.... spawning from your idea, I have come up with a lantern the patron will carry - old rustic lantern customer would be able to control by
"Setting Up Sensors Set In Doorways of the haunt or in different areas so that the latern will turn off or flicker when you approach the sensor."
There ya go....
~Hell Monstertronics could add this to their line up of products right beside their remote control flash lights, hell you could incorporate that into the flash lights as well.... Im not affraid to offer advice or to share ideas, all you had to do was ask..... I wont even take credit, its yours